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View Don't Be Patchman in the store

Our Early Access release is coming along nicely, we have our SteamOS / Linux builds submitted and approved by Valve, as well as new storefront art! New pixel-art banners and logos were drawn by Ihor Motuz. The first public release of the game includes five levels and one boss - with much more on the way!

Good news - Don't Be Patchman was Greenlit by Valve!! We didn't post anything about it right away because we were shocked and unsure if it was for real or not... but we've submitted our paperwork and that got through yesterday so now we have access to the Steam product interface and will be preparing for a launch!

The current plan is to do an Early Access release, originally this was scheduled for July 2015 and while we still hope to meet that goal, we're just getting started with Steam now so we need some time to make sure that is still a realistic launch date.

The game itself is in very good shape, the first boss is complete, and we have a round of five levels that are close to finished. Joystick support is a go, with customization mapping via text file. Most of the art is ready, we still don't have a new bear yet, there is a pile of programmer art yet to be converted into ACTUAL art.

Music has been rounded up for this first batch of levels, all by Keith MacBain. The game still has poor sound effects, which might not be updated until after the first Early Access release. We're also trying out the first cutscenes, and hope to have one for each level, but again, a lot of this is new territory for us so don't hold it against us if we can't get all this done for July! It'll come eventually, that's what Early Access is all about!

Thanks for your support, thanks for following us and taking an interest, thanks to our backers, and thanks to Valve for giving our little game a shot!

Help Patchman rescue the Sheeple from enslavement by the Drone army! The Sheeple are in trouble - they've been enslaved by the Drones - and it's all Patchman's fault! Now it's up to you to redeem Patchman, rescue the Sheeple, and uncover the awful secret behind the Drone army. Stay out of sight, wear clever disguises, search the forest for seeds, grow fruits and plants, tear down propaganda, awaken the Sheeple to break the control scheme, and power down those nasty robots! All that and more awaits in Don't Be Patchman, a sneak-and-grow action/adventure game.

Coming to Windows, OSX, and Linux in 2015. Medium-end system required.

Dangerous Drones

There are three different kinds of drones (so far), each with their own characteristics such as speed and attack damage. Each has a different weakness and can only be defeated by finding, growing, and correctly utilizing the right plant. For example, the Blue Square Drones are immune to the Growth Plant but are destroyed by Exploding Cactii. The Purple Triangle Drones will only get stunned momentarily by the cactus, but that might be enough to sneak by one when it counts.

Patchman

As of now there are seven different plants to grow with more in the works. Each has their quirks, and some are even dangerous to grow, like the Exploding Cactus, because you have to harvest it at just the right time, or else BOOM! You'll have to find suitable soil to drop your seeds on, but there are also pots laying around on some levels. Be warned: if the Drones see any plants they don't like - ZAP!! Disable the drones or move those pots out of sight to somewhere secluded like a janitor closet.

The Sheeple

A Sheeple collects Symbols from a Repeater in order to eat from a Vending Machine. Yeah, Patchman has to rescue these guys, even though it might not be too appealing at first. If you take a gander at our Sheeple Brochure teaser, you'll get a glimpse into the life of an average Sheeple as they go about their day at home. Ignore those tubes tho...

"Pfff... I can stop being Patchman anytime I want... sounds easy"

Does this game look too easy, like it wouldn't be a challenge? Well, the first few levels are fairly easy, but the difficulty ramps up quite high as you progress. Often there are multiple solutions to a level, but the most obvious one will be the hardest to accomplish. For example, on the Sheeple Rush level, you can throw fruits at them one by one. Or, with timing, you can grow some trees in their path and have an avalanche of fruits hit them. Or, if you are super clever, you can run back to harvest some Growth Plants, eat them, and belch smoke everywhere. During our last public demo, we offered cash payouts for anyone who could beat the tougher levels. No one could.

Reflex Strategy

Once you experiment with the plants and figure out the best strategies, then it all comes down to timing, patience, and reflexes. The Drones can be extremely deadly, so staying out of sight is best when you have no offensive capabilities. Sure, you might be able to outrun them, but they alert the other Drones to your location and then the hunt is on. They'll search the last known area, so merely ducking behind a wall won't help you for long. Maybe you can find a decoy blow-up doll, put together a clever disguise, or convince a follower to run out and distract them. It's not just pixel-art button-mashing - there are many live action puzzles and interesting emergent scenarios to experience from this game.

"Spill every detail, pal, I need to experience this via osmosis"

Please watch our trailer all-the-way-through and check out our game clip videos! All the vital stuff is in those. A lot of time was spent crafting the gameplay mechanics and interface. Every scene in the trailer is 100% real gameplay footage of activities you can do in the game. We only disabled the HUD and positioned the camera for some shots, but even when the camera is following the Sheeple, you do that in the game by pressing tabs on the left of the screen to spy from afar. At key moments the engine automatically letterboxes for a scene, such as when a Sheeple ascends. Players are free to zoom in and out as they please. You can even have a boring office meeting about Symbols if you really want! As long as your disguise fools the Sheeple, they won't alert the Drones. For the tinkerers, there are development blogs to watch and technical articles that show how some of this was made, just check our game website. "Coding the Sheeple: AI in a Realtime Physics World" was featured on Gamasutra.

Red Circle Drone

Defeating the Drones

How do you damage, disable, or defeat those dastardly devious drones? Do you want us to spoil everything? Please don't make us spoil everything. Each drone has a different weakness. There are clues in the trailer. We know it's confusing, but we want players to have a challenge. On some levels you won't be able to disable them - you have to sneak. Later, you'll discover plants that you can chew for abilities. Every plant affects the drones differently. Some only stun them. Some blind them. Some explode them into sparking smoking pieces of silicon junk.

I'm not fond of words like "sheeple" at all, but after looking at what the game is about, it seems like a very appropriate word to use, and the game looks fun and intriguing. Looking forward to seeing it on Steam.

@GoodPlay, the game itself has no words, only numbers. However, the menu options have words like PLAY and QUIT. We will port those to as many languages as possible - it will not be difficult. Also, the menu options have icons that illustrate what they do. For the moment we are just putting "English" as the language listed for game until we actually add the support, but realistically anyone could play this game regardless of language.

Don't Be Patchman has been Greenlit and is now listed in the Steam store. For the latest information, purchase options, and discussions for Don't Be Patchman, please see it on the Steam Store or in the Steam Community.